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Bowman, Gross earn CHA season honors

Bowman, Gross earn CHA season honors

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State women's hockey freshman forward Laura Bowman (Minnetonka, Minn.) and senior captain Taylor Gross (Colorado Springs, Colo.) were bestowed season honors by the coaches of College Hockey America Thursday evening. Bowman was named to the All-CHA Rookie Team, while Gross was garnered the CHA's Sportsmanship Award.

Bowman, the team's leader in goals (10), was named to the All-CHA Rookie Team, the second Nittany Lion to receive such an honor. Last season, Shannon Yoxheimer (Jackson, Mich.) earned Penn State's first All-CHA award.

Bowman finished the season with six assists for a grand total of 16 points, tied for second on the team with Yoxheimer. Bowman registered a shot percentage of .111, good for second on the team. An all-around gifted player, Bowman won over 50 percent of her faceoffs (337-322) and blocked 27 shots, fifth among Nittany Lion forwards. In conference play, Bowman led the Nittany Lions with five goals and five assists. Nationally, Bowman ranked in a tie for 14th for freshmen goal scoring.

Gross, Penn State's first captain as a varsity program, earned the respect of the league's coaches and student-athletes by being named the CHA's Sportsmanship Award honoree. The award is given by the league to one student-athlete who has consistently demonstrated superior conduct and sportsmanship on the ice as voted on by the head coaches.

Gross tallied 15 points this season on seven goals and eight points and committed just two penalties all season. A selfless player, Gross led the Nittany Lion forwards in blocked shots (42) with linemate Emily Laurenzi (Townsend, Del.). Gross capped her four-year collegiate career with 116 games played, 27 goals, 35 assists and 62 points. The senior forward leaves Penn State in a tie for second in goals (14), second in assists (23) and points (37).

Lastly, the Nittany Lions earned the CHA's Team Sportsmanship Award, which is given to the team that accumulates the least amount of penalties during conference play. The Nittany Lions accrued 140 penalty minutes, 52 less than Syracuse (192) and 76 less than RIT (216) in 20 league games. Lindenwood (229), Robert Morris (230) and Mercyhurst (319) round out the rest of the CHA.

In addition to Bowman's athletic accomplishments, she is a Schreyer Honors College student in the Eberly College of Science.

Penn State finished its second season 4-29-3 and looks to improve upon that record in 2014-15. The Nittany Lions graduate five, while bringing back 84.2 percent of the team's offense from this season and six highly-touted newcomers for the upcoming season.